UTSA Athletics set a new standard for success in the 2022-2023 school year

While UTSA’s runaway success in football has garnered headlines and spotlights over the last two years, the Roadrunners’ athletics program as a whole has continued to develop alongside football. Between the opening of the RACE facility, strong head coaching hires, an AAC invitation, expanding budgets, and NIL investment, the environment for sports programs at UTSA to flourish continues to blossom.

I’ve been following UTSA athletics religiously since 2009 and I can’t think of an academic school year that saw more wide-spread success across a myriad of programs than this one. Sure sports like softball and men’s basketball struggled, but the list of accomplishments the Roadrunners can point to is incredibly impressive, especially in comparison to the school’s relatively sparse history in Division I athletics.

For posterity’s sake, allow me to share my bullet point list which I accrued over the past year:

• Football repeated as Conference USA championships, winning 11 games and earning a Top 25 ranking for the second straight season
• A record 30 football players were selected for C-USA All Conference teams
• Trey Moore was named to the FWAA Freshman All-American team for football
• Former UTSA football players Tariq Woolen and Spencer Burford were drafted in the 5th and 4th rounds of the NFL draft respectively. Both would go on to start as rookies, with Woolen being named the Senior Bowl NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year
• UTSA Football made national news after quarterback Frank Harris announced he was returning for a seventh season at UTSA thanks to a reported six-figure NIL agreement with the City Fans 210 NIL collective
• Soccer won their first C-USA championship in their final year competing in the league
• Camryn Carreon won an individual NCAA regional tourney and competed in the NCAA championship for women’s golf
• Men’s tennis earned an at-large bid to NCAA regional tournament after reaching a program-high ranking of #34
• Alan Magadan and Sebastian Rodriguez of men’s tennis won an NCAA postseason match over NC State, marking the program’s first ever postseason victory
• 20 track and field athletes competed in the NCAA preliminary round, with Oreoluwa Adamson and Bashiru Abdullahi advancing to the NCAA national championships. They joined Joel McFarlane and Jack Turner who also qualified to compete at nationals.
• Baseball earned a Top 25 ranking for first time in program history and hosted a mutual Top 25 home series for the first time
• Pitcher Simon Miller was named an All-American and C-USA pitcher of the year. He was drafted in the 12th round of the MLB draft by the Cincinnati Reds
• Women’s basketball set a program record for highest-ranked win against a Top 25 opponent (MTSU, #21)
• Jordyn Jenkins earned C-USA Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year honors for women’s basketball, breaking several school records throughout the season

Other than the breadth of programs seeing notable successes, what sticks out to me from the list above is how many of the achievements are national recognitions — ranking near the top of Division I, competing in national championships, earning All-American status, etc. While there likely have been several years where the Roadrunners secured more conference championships, all conference team selections, etc., I find it hard to believe UTSA athletics has ever competed on a national scale like this across a multitude of sports.

It’s hard to imagine a better send-off season for the athletics department as they transition into a stronger conference.

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